Fewer mortgages were classified as delinquent in February when compared to the same period a year earlier, Lender Processing Services said in a monthly update Monday. Out of the 40 million loans evaluated by LPS last month, 8.8% qualified as delinquent (30 days or more overdue). That delinquency rate is down 1.2% from January and 18.4% from February 2010. Meanwhile, the year-over-year foreclosure presale inventory rate grew 7.4% even though it dropped a slight 0.2% on a month-to-month basis. In February, LPS classified 4.6 million mortgages as delinquent for 30 day or more, while nearly 2.2 million loans were at least 90 days late. About 6.8 million loans were either delinquent or in foreclosure last month, LPS said. The states with the highest percentage of delinquent loans included Florida, Nevada, Mississippi, New Jersey and Georgia. States with the lowest percentage of non-performing loans included Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota. Write to Kerri Panchuk.